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And, no, I’m not talking about the ‘Ctrl-I’ command. 🙂 After yesterday’s post, I started planning my list… At my last job, I had a very specific notebook that I would use to keep my lists, and when I thought about it, I realized that one of the things about my lists that keeps me so motivated is the presentation of the list. Now, before we pull out the ‘OCD’ stamp and apply it directly to my forehead, let me clarify – not all lists are created equally. My grocery/shopping lists get scribbled on whatever scrap of paper (or junk mail envelope) is within arm’s reach, for example. When I’m making a list that needs to keep me on track, motivate me to finish something and keep me organized, I like it to be as presentable as possible, to keep myself focused on the items on the list, rather than the overall look of the list.

I prefer a sturdy notebook, and I need a smooth-writing pen; gel-ink are nice, and I’m not opposed to ballpoint, as long as they won’t gunk up, smearing blobs of ink in the middle of a letter, or dry up, leaving ghosts on the page where I meant a word to be. But most importantly, I have to write clearly – if I start chicken-scratching or misspelling words, it just ends up distracting me. Which reminded me of all my penmanship exercises in grade school. Does anyone else remember those?

At the risk of walking smack into another label, I was homeschooled through eighth grade, and my mother taught me how to write: print (or block), cursive, and italics. For those of you who are unfamiliar, italics is sort of a cross between block and cursive, like fancy block, but more legible than cursive. The style I learned is very much like the picture below.

I haven’t practiced my handwriting in so long that I hardly remember how to write like that anymore. I’ve read that some schools aren’t even teaching cursive anymore, because it’s become an irrelevant skill, in light of all the typing we do on computers nowadays. But I miss it. I love reading notes and letters from my grandmothers, looking at their delicate, flowing script that they worked so hard to perfect until it became second nature. Mine wasn’t nearly as graceful as theirs, but it wasn’t too shabby-looking…

I think I’m going to start practicing it again! Would you consider it ironic for me to Google practice sheets? 😉